Denver’s film scene is about to change as one of the city’s premier arts organizations makes a big move uptown to the Colfax Avenue corridor.

Wednesday, the Denver Film Society signed a two-year lease with Frank Schultz, president and co-owner of Tavern Hospitality Group, for a new home for its year-round film programming.

The film society will relocate its art-house theater multiplex from the eight-screen Starz FilmCenter on the Auraria campus to the Lowenstein complex that houses the Tattered Cover Book Store and Twist & Shout music store.

“We’re getting into a new building turn-key on one of the most vibrant streets in Denver. It’s not only a great opportunity, it’s a great economic deal as well,” said film society executive director Tom Botelho.

While declining to release the financial details of the lease, Botelho said the film society has the option to continue renting or to buy the building from Schultz, who purchased it in 2009 for $2 million.

Considered a Tier II organization, the film society received $360,787 in public funding from the Scientific & Cultural Facilities District in 2010.

The newly named, three- screen Denver FilmCenter/Colfax is scheduled to open Nov. 4 with red-carpet events to help kick off the 33rd Starz Denver Film Festival Nov. 3-14.

The film society’s current lease with the University of Colorado Denver College of Arts & Media runs through November 2011. This year and next, film-festival screenings will take place at the new cinema, and the Starz FilmCenter theaters, as well as the Ellie Caulkins Opera House and the King Center at Auraria.

After the 2011 festival, the film society must find new offices. The Starz FilmCenter is 32,329 square feet. The Colfax theaters and restaurant have 11,250 square feet with no space for offices.

The Denver FilmCenter/Colfax will go in the space once occupied by Neighborhood Flix Cinema & Cafe. The cinema and lobby restaurant opened in November 2007 and shut its doors 11 months later.

Last November, Schultz announced his plans to reopen the shuttered theater as an event space, similar to other Tavern-owned venues such as the Soiled Dove.

Shortly before Tavern Hospitality Group was to begin construction a few months ago, Schultz and Botelho, who are on a board together, began bantering about the space. Then the talk turned more serious.

“It was already built out as a movie theater. It just made sense. It made sense for everybody,” Schultz said.

“It just seems like a perfect fit,” said Denver director of cultural affairs Erin Trapp. “We’ve worked on the district approach and really feel the combination of the film society and the existing organizations are going to be a linchpin to that area’s resurgence as a cultural center. “

In 2005, the redevelopment on the site of the historic Lowenstein Theater was conceived with the Denver Film Society as one of the three original tenants. But the $15 million price was too high.

“In that first go-round, we weren’t fully aligned,” said festival director Britta Erickson.

“Now we’ve got a board that is 100 percent committed to vision, to have bricks and mortar. That alignment has finally come to this organization. This organization has finally hit that maturity point where everyone is thinking in concert.